


praying the floor won't fall through (again)

by theodorelupin



Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst, Bucky Barnes Has Issues, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Depressed Bucky Barnes, Depressed Steve Rogers, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-23
Updated: 2017-08-23
Packaged: 2018-12-18 22:56:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11884587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theodorelupin/pseuds/theodorelupin
Summary: Bucky is missing. Until he's not.Bucky isn't Bucky. Until he is.Either way, he's still massively fucked up.





	praying the floor won't fall through (again)

It’s raining the day that Bucky comes home to him. 

-

He and Sam had worn themselves out for months. After that day in D.C., Steve couldn’t let it go. He was obsessed. As soon as he woke up on the river bank, he was ready to get a car, and go. Hell, he’d had half a mind to just start walking, before Sam found his sorry ass and forced him to actually make a plan. 

Sam was proving himself to be just as loyal of a friend as Steve was. If only a bit more level-headed, and a lot less reckless. 

They’d been tracking underground HYDRA cells, hoping that where there was HYDRA, there’d be Bucky. But they always seemed to get there a little too late, and instead of finding information on him, or the man himself, all they kept finding were the aftermaths of numerous massacres. 

Sam had been quietly horrified, clenched jaw and hard eyes. Steve had to resist the urge to let his face fall into a small smile. 

He knew what they could do. What they had already done. 

Bucky, _his_ Bucky, would have gotten his revenge too, if he was there. It just might not have been this bloody. 

-

There was only one night when Steve thought Sam was gonna leave him. They were sitting in a motel room, soaked head to toe in warm, summer rain. The hotel was cheap, lacking air conditioning, causing Steve’s shirt to stick to his chest in an uncomfortable way. The advantage was that no one recognized them here. No one even bothered to look at their faces. 

They’re laying there, on separate beds, both pretending to try to sleep, though both know that’s easier said than done, when Sam takes a deep breath and whispers, “Listen, Steve…”

“You think we should give up.”

Silence. 

“It’s not that-”

“Look. I get it. Captain America shows up at your door, and you wanna serve. I know you. You think this is your duty-”

“This has never been about my duty to my country. This is about my duty to my friend and fellow soldier. Fuck Captain America. You and I both know that I’m here for Steve Rogers.”

Steve smiles at that. This is why Sam is his favorite. 

“I know that. But I also know that going on a wild goose chase across the world looking for someone who tried to kill you isn’t anyone’s idea of a good time.”

“Can’t argue with that.”

“I know that I asked you to be here. I want you to be here. You’re the only person in this century that sees me as person instead of symbol. But you got a life. You should be living it.”

“What makes you think that you don’t have a life?”

“Sam-”

“No, listen to me. All you’ve been doing since you woke up is chase the past. Maybe it’s time to see if the present’s got anything for you.”

“I-”

“And I really, really hope that you decide it does. I know that Bucky’s important to you, but do you actually think he’d want you to throw away your life just to-”

“Just to what, Sam? Just to save him? Make sure he’s okay? Do you think he’d do anything less for me? Bucky spent his entire life chasing me around Brooklyn so I wouldn’t get into the fights. The least I can do is return the favor.”

“Steve-”

“End of discussion. If you wanna go, feel free. But me? I owe it to Bucky to see this through.”

“...If you think I’m gonna leave your stupid ass out here to go storming into fights you can’t win, you don’t know me.”

“Jeez, why does no one think I can win a damn fi-”

“Goodnight, Steve.”

“Goodnight, Sam.” Steve said. A moment passed. “And hey, thanks.”

Sam snorted, then rolled over on his side and tried to force himself to sleep. Morning would come soon enough. 

-

The next day Bucky Barnes knocked on the motel room door, rain bouncing off his metal arm like tiny bullets. 

Sam answered the door, with one fist already curled, ready for a fight, before dropping his hand to his side- frozen in disbelief. 

Bucky looked over his shoulder to where Steve sat on the bed, hair ruffled from sleep. Their eyes met through the doorway, and Bucky breathed out, “Steve?”

Steve made a choked sound in the back of his throat. Sam finally realized what was happening and stepped back, allowing Steve to walk towards the ghost of his best friend. His legs moved of their own volition, walking closer and closer without permission until he and Bucky were nose to nose. 

“Bucky,” Steve gasped, eyes tracing over every angle of Bucky’s face. “You….you remember?”

“I thought you were smaller.”

Sam’s brow furrowed. Steve barked out a laugh he didn’t know he was holding in, hysterical giggled wracking his form that slowly descending into choked off sobs. 

Bucky just stared, eyes blank, no emotion on his face. 

-

They were gonna be okay.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm new to fanfiction, so any comments are appreciated. More chapters to come soon!


End file.
